Oh that Beartooth Altitude

---

Today was the beginning of this fall's wilderness trek. It began in Atlanta, GA and ended in Silver Gate, MT. After an early morning wake up, a visit through Atlanta airport, Denver airport and Billings airport, we meet up with our traveling companions. Along for the adventure this year is David, Peggy, Linda, and myself - all family and all eager to see what the week has planned for us.

Being that most of the day was spent either on an airplane or in an airport, our only goal for the day was to drive the Beartooth Highway and stop in Silver Gate MT for the night. So after lunch, purchasing a few snacks - for snacks are essential on any trip - we did just that. But our plans were almost thwarted for Mother Nature dropped a reminder that she is always in charge. A mid September storm brought in a few inches of snow closing that road the day prior, but after a talk with her and some help from the Montana DOT, the road was opened up this morning - just for us of course.

The Beartooth Hwy is one of the longest steepest, curviest, highest, white-knucklingiest, windiest, most beautiful drives there are in the US. The terrain changes around every curve with the views getting wider with each switchback. The drive takes you through fields, grasslands, forests, rock fields, alongside lakes and ponds, next to multi-thousand feet cliffs, and eventually way above the tree line - where nothing is able to sustain the winds and temps so the views are uninterrupted. You are unable to take enough photos and no photo can depict the beauty and grandeur of the area.

We made several stops, took a few hundred pictures, braved the ice cold winds, and tried to let the beauty around us sink in a bit. Along the way, the temperature dropped, the winds increased, and the affects of the altitude grew. That is the only downside. Though the altitude does not affect some, it certainly did me. Altitude sickness is a horrible feeling and there is absolutely nothing you can do about it. Well except come down to a lower altitude which means more turns, more riding, more time in the car, more sickness. But when you are on top, you have no choice. I have been to many mountain areas, driven several steep multi-mile high roads and visited numerous scenic highways, but this is the most sick I have ever felt from the altitude. I was more than happy to be down from there and out of the truck, but I would still do it all over again.

As we made our way back toward remote civilization, we saw a sign to watch for cattle on the road for it is an open range area and then saw a sign that this is grizzly bear area. Now having open range cattle in a grizzly habitat just seems wrong. But I am not a farmer, and they have been doing it this way for a long time, so I guess it works. But I still wonder how many grizzly bears have a free lunch out there. We did see a many a cow on the road, so one had better take head to those warnings. And if traveling in the dark on the same road as those cattle, you will likely be buying a new car.

We made our way into Silver Gate, which is a tiny town, found the general store and checked in to our little cabin for the night. The general store has several several cabins they rent. They are basically little, rustic, efficiency cabins - but was great for what we needed. I will say that this is the first time I can recall ever sleeping in the kitchen or cooking in a bedroom. We went to the 'World Famous Beartooth Cafe' for dinner, which is located in Cooke City - right next to Silver Gate. I am not sure why it is world famous, but that was their claim. We ate there last year and David enjoyed a buffalo ribeye steak, so he has been dreaming about eating another one ever since we planned this trip. So he ordered himself one again this year and it was huge - the leftovers are in the fridge right next to my bed.

Tomorrow we have hopes of seeing the Yellowstone wildlife, maybe a short hike and the beauty of this special area. After the affects of the altitude today I thought it would be a good idea to delay our hike up Mt Washburn. I did not receive any arguments.

---